#Collaborative post
It’s not every day that you see people come from humble beginnings and make it to the top. However, these stories have always carried with them valuable lessons of resilience, determination, and a willingness to learn and adapt amongst other things.
While my financial journey isn’t exactly a rags-to-riches story that can be adapted into a movie, it attests to the importance and effectiveness of financial prudence. We tend to follow the latest, most popular financial trends and try to find ways to make our money work for us, but the age old financial advice is always more effective.
I went from experiencing a harrowing financial crisis to managing a successful estate business in a span of a few years. In this article, I’m sharing my story in the hopes of motivating you to plan better, no matter what your financial goals are.
Starting from the Bottom
I was a happy-go-lucky guy who came from a modest middle-class family in Slough. Having two working parents who were familiar with the hardships of the middle class, I wanted to start my own business in order to escape and live a different life. It didn’t take long to find my first business opportunity in an industry I was passionate about but had little practical knowledge going in.
As luck would have it, the business failed. Once the initial depression of this business failure subsided, I decided to give it another shot. However, I’d accumulated a modest debt from funding my first business. I knew my chances of finding funds for another business were limited and came with risks.
I was willing to secure a loan with my house as collateral. It’s here that my story turned for the worse. While I managed to get the loan from a private lender, I failed to do my due diligence. My desperation to get funds had blinded me from reading the terms and conditions of my loan document. I not only ended up signing up for really high interest rates on my loan and signing my house as collateral but also agreed to a host of hidden fees.
Finding My Way
With a mere few pounds in my account, monstrous debt, and a personal loan that needed to be repaid in a few months, I was in rough financial terrain. I began reading up on how to budget effectively alongside managing a bootstrapped business that needed careful planning and implementation every step of the way.
I was hyper-focused on making the business work because it really was my last hope. But I also knew I needed another source of income if I had to juggle all of it together.
While the business started picking up, albeit slowly, the interest payments on the personal loan were increasing. I was struggling to manage daily expenses and had missed a payment or two, which was beginning to reflect poorly on my credit report as well.
Thankfully, I found a part-time job at a local logistics and supply firm. However, my debt situation no longer seemed manageable. Though the business was growing steadily, it was going to be a while before it raked in the profits. Running a growing business and having a part-time job was beginning to take its toll on me physically and mentally.
This was when I began considering setting an LPA in place for my business. I could easily make a lasting power of attorney online and protect my business and personal finances. I was travelling a lot for work, and having an LPA made sense. I appointed my best friend as my attorney for the LPA, which gave me peace of mind.
Meanwhile, I decided to do what anyone else in my position would. I talked to financial advisors about my next steps. They suggested that since I was employed, I could take a payday loan despite my bad credit and pay off whatever little debts I could. You can find out more about it here.
This made sense to me as it’d help me take care of weekly expenses while also making small loan repayments. It brought me some financial relief as I looked to make the most of my limited budget and meet my business expenses.
However, they did well to remind me that payday loans needed to be paid off on my next payday; any skipped repayments could worsen my financial situation. I was resolved to make this work and stay atop my loan repayments.
Seeing the Light
I was 34 when my first business failed. I tasted the success of my second business at age 40. The years in between were the ones that tested me the most, physically, emotionally, and financially.
However, once I made progress on the business front, debt consolidation was my first priority. Though I wish I had tackled it earlier, after years of sticking diligently to my budget and minimising expenses, I knew it was a goal that was well within reach. I paid off all my high-interest debts and for the first time in six years tasted freedom.
It was during this period of straightening out my priorities in life that I was introduced to a successful estate manager who soon became my mentor. I was in a happier place, no longer haunted by debts or loan repayments. He motivated me to diversify my business and investment portfolio.
I knew the time for making rookie mistakes was in the past. I took his advice and did my due diligence this time around. I liked the way my mentor handled his estate business. On a gorgeous Saturday morning out at lunch, I asked him if he’d be interested in taking me on as a business partner.
His emphatic ‘Yes’ sealed the deal and paved the way for the beginning of a brand new career chapter in my life. Looking back, I’m glad those mistakes happened and things went the way they did.
C’est la vie. Every failure was an opportunity to learn.
A Brand New Day
I was excited about my journey in estate management and had a newfound optimism for life and my business. Things were different this time around because I had a mentor I looked up to and was confident in his guidance. I sold my previous business for a profit that’s now well invested across different assets like stocks, bonds, properties, and digital currency.
As I enter my 50th year, I remember the times of my struggle as the most decisive in my life. It has made me resourceful, changed my views (for the better) about human relationships, and managed my money on a shoestring budget, all while trying to make a business work. Though I could have budgeted earlier and avoided a few mistakes instead of waiting for a failed business to be my motivation, I do not regret the timing of those lessons.
Final Thoughts
Wisdom has a funny way of enlightening you only after you’ve made it through the rite of passage aptly titled ‘failure’.
Life is nothing but learning from our mistakes, be it financial or personal. I hope sharing my story has encouraged you to review your financial mistakes with a sense of hope. No matter how bad it seems, with the right guidance and some financial prudence, you can turn any situation around.
